Chapter 392 – The Earthquake in Dongqing (Part 24)
The round moon in the sky was veiled by a layer of gray-white fog, casting a dim and despondent light.
Outside the capital city—
The incessant sound of shoveling echoed, as each scoop of dirt was flung from the pit edge. If someone were unaware, they might think a bunch of scoundrels were digging up an ancestor’s tomb. After hundreds of people’s efforts, a massive pit had emerged, with thick mounds of earth piled around it.
“This depth should be enough; keep digging outward.”
If they dug too shallow, heavy rain could wash away the surface dirt, exposing the bodies beneath. If they dug too deep, it would be a massive undertaking, and their time was too precious to waste.
Jiang Pengji tore open a bag of lime at the pit’s edge, wrapped her hands in cloth, and scooped a handful of lime with a ladle scavenged from a rice shop.
“Spread this fine lime over the dirt at the bottom of the pit, and then cover it with another layer of soil. Be careful not to scratch your skin while doing this.” With hundreds working together, progress was swift, and by late at night, the giant pit was almost complete.
The audience in the live stream watched in fear throughout the night, shivering at the thought that such a large pit would be used to bury bodies.
To ease the chilling atmosphere, many viewers spontaneously cracked jokes to lighten the mood, but unfortunately, their attempts had little effect.
As time wore on, one body after another was lowered into the pit. Jiang Pengji silently watched as the others fell silent too.
The morning light seeped through the leaves, casting dappled patterns on the ground, revealing the scene below.
Not even the Imperial Guards, nor her personal troops, could help but clutch their stomachs and dry-heave; some were squatting on the ground, silently misty-eyed, having gone a sleepless night. At this moment, no one dared utter a word of “tired,” all staring blankly at the bodies in the pit for what felt like an eternity.
Finally, Jiang Pengji hoarsely said, “Bury them… this one pit isn’t enough for all the bodies…”
Having spoken, she grabbed a shovel and began throwing dirt into the pit. It took everyone a moment to react, mechanically and numbly following her orders, covering the pit with a layer of dirt. Afterward, Jiang Pengji instructed them to sprinkle another layer of lime, then continue shoveling dirt.
They built a high mound to compact the soil, ensuring that wild animals or hungry birds wouldn’t disturb it.
Finally, a nameless gravestone was placed.
“You all worked hard through the night; go wash up, eat something, and rest for a couple of hours before taking over again.”
The morning sun flowed like liquid gold, dazzling and beautiful, but the Imperial Guards and troops who had stayed up digging all night felt their eyes gritty, tiredness washing over them, making their eyelids heavy as lead.
After holding their breath for so long, they now yearned to collapse into a deep sleep.
However, filling their bellies came first.
Two huge pots of porridge and steaming buns filled the air with mouthwatering aromas, causing stomachs to roar like thunder.
They were truly starving.
Forming a line to wash their hands and faces, they received their portions of porridge and buns, finding a random spot to squat down and chow down.
The Imperial Guards ate somewhat politely, but the troops devoured their food as if they hadn’t eaten in years, with a few gulping so hastily they nearly choked.
To rendezvous with Jiang Pengji as quickly as possible, the troops hastily marched under Qi Guanrang’s command. They hadn’t slept for almost three days and nights, their eye bags dark, gazes unfocused. Now, with the hot porridge and buns in their bellies, they felt a rush of renewed vitality.
Having eaten, warmth filled their limbs, and many leaned against trees, falling asleep with soft snores.
Seeing this, Jiang Pengji’s eyes glimmered with relief, and she carefully finished her portion of food.
With a thousand Imperial Guards and a thousand troops assisting her, the efficiency of the search and rescue was incomparable. More and more injured were being transported to the casualty camp. The majority were still bodies, as the heat of the day meant that corpses were directly brought out from the ruins and buried outside the city.
If other small animal corpses were discovered, they were burned on the spot, and the area around the camp had to be regularly cleaned and sprinkled with lime.
“What’s this?”
Feng Jin held a strangely shaped object, which he wasn’t alone in receiving; Qi Guanrang and the others also had one.
“A mask.”
Jiang Pengji furrowed her brows in response; this was something the live stream audience had reminded her to make.
In her time, masks were a thing long gone, faded into history books like ancient relics.
“What’s it for?”
Feng Jin scrutinized it for a long time, unsure of how to use it. It looked too small to be a napkin and too big for a curtain.
“Cover it over your mouth and nose. Tie the four strings behind your head to secure it. Diseases often enter through the mouth and nose; if we cover those areas and pay attention to what we eat and drink, it might help reduce the incidence of disease.” Jiang Pengji explained, demonstrating the usage with her own mask.
Feng Jin listened and nodded, finding it somewhat reasonable.
“This is a good thing; it can also mask odors.”
While the heaps of corpses were buried, the casualty camp was filled with sick patients, and occasionally some seriously ill ones were carried out.
The air was perpetually thick with a pungent smell of blood, but with the masks on, things were slightly better.
The masks Jiang Pengji spoke of were not those available in the marketplace, since that place was a total joke which didn’t even sell masks.
She instructed several maidservants to select breathable fabrics, fold them into two or three layers, and stitch them together simply to make a few. Even in the hot weather, they wouldn’t be too uncomfortable to wear. However, since the fabric was limited, the makeshift masks were given first to a few important individuals.
Once used, they could be boiled in hot water, dried, and reused.
The only thing worth celebrating was that it had been more than halfway through the second day after the earthquake, and aside from fevers and fainting, none had shown signs of other diseases.
Even so, Jiang Pengji couldn’t let her guard down too soon; precautions were still necessary.
Looking at the sorry state of the marketplace, she scolded the System in her mind for it.
Trash!
Upon hearing her angry admonishment, the trapped System coldly scoffed.
“Is it my fault?”
In comparison to the trash System, the friends in the live stream were far more lovable. Hearing that Jiang Pengji was worried about the disease, everyone banded together to brainstorm; three cobblers could indeed outsmart Zhuge Liang, and with one hundred fifty thousand viewers, they might actually come up with a solution.
【Big Red Dates】: Anchor, anchor! I suddenly remembered a time I read a time-travel novel where the female lead treated the Fourth Prince’s disease using reed roots to make water. I don’t know if that’s reliable or not, but maybe we could try boiling it for people to drink; it might prevent the disease!
【Six Gods Floral Water】: No way, can we trust a web novel that was just a bunch of nonsense?
【Just a Chestnut】: Hmm, reed root water has effects of clearing heat and generating fluids, relieving vomiting and aiding urination. It treats symptoms like high fever, thirst, vomiting due to stomach heat, cough from lung heat, lung pain with pus, and difficult urination… The above content is from Baidu. You don’t know until you check—turns out reed root water is pretty impressive. Many diseases have symptoms of continuous vomiting and relentless diarrhea… maybe… just maybe… it could work?
【Double Deer Battery】: #Facepalm, we need a skilled traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. Anchor, we really need your help now!
Jiang Pengji looked at these comments and let out a faint sigh.
Even if there was a good practitioner, it wouldn’t matter much with the shortage of medicinal materials.
The medicines available in the marketplace were the most common ones; the slightly more expensive ones weren’t even available for purchase.
Luck was on their side, however, as they had previously rescued a middle-aged man from the ruins, and it turned out he was a Young Doctor. He wasn’t severely injured, and now he had replaced the maidservants in the mansion, becoming the chief physician at the casualty camp, salvaging basic medicines from the ruins to save people.
Jiang Pengji glanced at the meager medicinal materials in the marketplace and, taking the viewers’ suggestions, decided to exchange for more mugwort leaves and reed roots.
Mugwort leaves have inhibitive and lethal effects on many bacteria and viruses, making it a good disinfectant for treating the ill.
As for reed roots… better to be prepared than sorry.
